Celtics mantra of winning the day carries them on days that would have been losses in the past

The Celtics mental approach has been consistent, even if their lineups haven't been lately. 

“We truly try to win every single day,” Sam Hauser said after Boston’s win in Chicago, their ninth straight. “And I think it shows on the court when we have nights like this when guys are out and other guys get to step up and play.” 

Winning the day has been the consistent motto for this year’s Celtics. Joe Mazzulla has drilled the concept into his team from the start of the season in an effort to fix an issue from last season. With too much focus on getting back to the Finals, Boston lost sight of the steps they need to take to get there. So Mazzulla changed the emphasis. 

It’s why he says winning looks different every day. Because too often, we all get caught up in not just winning but doing it a certain way. We want perfection, and when it’s not perfect, we try to figure out how it could have been. 

But that's not how it works in the NBA. Few teams have been perfect. And those we think were, probably weren’t. Time just has a way of washing away the imperfections. We only remember the good times. 

In the moment, winning can be ugly and messy. Boston walked into the United Center not only on a back-to-back but playing their fifth game in seven nights. The last fifth in seven they played was that debacle in Milwaukee, so struggling a bit to win this game seems great in comparison to that, especially considering they were without Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday.

“Playing teams like Chicago are great tests for the playoffs because of their ability to go on runs, their ability to impact the game on turnovers, points off turnovers, offensive rebounds, free throws; they test you on the margins,” Mazzulla said. “For them to play big with (Nikola) Vucevic and (Andre) Drummond, and to out-rebound them 12-3 on the offensive glass, have a 21-point (defensive) fourth quarter, and for them to only shoot 11 free throws, that's a recipe for success on nights that you might not have it so to speak. So that's important for us to be able to continue to develop those habits and find different ways to win.”

No one knows what each game will bring. Boston didn’t plan on Jayson Tatum spraining his ankle in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last year, but he did. So whatever plan the Celtics had for that game was ripped to shreds right away. Finding different ways to win means being able to overcome that should there be a next time. Winning the day means facing whatever challenge might present itself, whether bad luck, bad timing, or just bad energy.

And bad energy is going to happen sometimes, though it hasn’t happened much this season. They’ve done a great job of not sleepwalking through nights where they might have in the past. We’ve probably seen a dozen wins this season that would have been losses a year ago. That's probably why the Celtics have 12 more wins than the Bucks.

“It's not in our character to just mail it in for the rest of the season, even though we have a good record to this point,” Hauser said. “We're trying to take it a day at a time because we have a lot to prepare for for the playoffs and each and every day is a great opportunity for us to grow together as a group and learn from games that we won and lost. So we're just taking it one day at a time.”

Each one of those days begins with a question. “How can we win this day?” Be it a practice, a game, or a day of rest, the goal is to end the day ahead of where they started it. Championship habits are built this way. 

“There's many reasons why we could have a lull from an effort standpoint or from a competitive standpoint and just lay down,” Mazzulla said. “Who's to say that it might not happen on this trip. It might. But up until this point, especially after the Milwaukee game … for us to just continue to play hard is the habit that we need to have. So I love that more than anything else. Even if we didn't win, I think we're playing the right way. We just gotta keep that and can't take winning for granted.”